Letters To The Editor

January 26, 1999

BEATING THE WRONG DOG

The difficulty of the state Standards of Learning questions matters little. Be they too easy or too difficult, the questions were the same for the entire state, for all schools and their students. If the grading scale was set too high, it was set equally high for all in Virginia. Schools and students were evaluated equally with fairness across the spectrum.

Fairness and realism of course are two different subjects.

SOL results placed Hampton students at the bottom of the scale. Hampton students were placed in a situation where they were asked questions for which they were very obviously ill prepared.

How did this happen? These students did not promote themselves. I hope parents did not expect students to be placed in grade levels for which they were not qualified to enter.

According to some in administrative positions, the test results were not unexpected or surprising. The failure rate must have been expected, and thus, the students had little chance of meeting a passing score. Why was this expected? Why was this anticipated?

The fact is that adults put Hampton students in the situation of taking a SOL test for which they had inadequate information and preparation.

Who were these adults? Teachers - passing students through a series of grade levels. School administrative involvement weighs in heavily. School administrations have not allowed teachers to properly retain unprepared students due to lack of funding or physical facility space. Instead these students are passed on to the next grade level, even though their ability to perform at that level is seriously compromised and inadequate. Academic challenge and academic success have been subverted by "social promotion" and "self esteem".

The SOL tests were administered to measure academics. The tests were successful to that end. Students are attaining advancement in grade levels but are lacking the academic knowledge to support their placement. What better proof than the academic measurement of the SOL?

The tragedy of all this is that Hampton students are very capable of the academic work and success. The students must be shown convincingly that they will advance only if academically qualified and retained if academically unqualified. This has not been done and is shamefully apparent. Academic accountability and the student must be reacquainted.

Why not ferment those sour grapes, Morse, and we'll make a little political whine.

I take it Democrats would use that billion dollar surplus as a weapon of mass distraction. For it was just a year ago that their posture was the state treasury couldn't survive a reduction in the car tax. Gov. Gilmore will - gasp, shock, mock horror - spend some money they said wouldn't be there.

What a twist. It's usually Democrats telling us it will be there, spending it, and then leaving it up to Republicans to tell us it wasn't really there all along.

The repeal of the sales tax on food is another issue that Democrats suddenly embrace with all the finesse of a 500-pound gorilla.

I suppose there will be no tax on sour grapes, either. When Democrat State Sen. Marye heckled the governor with the comment, "we don't care who gets the credit" it was a clear attempt to remind us all of who really hopes to get the credit.

Now, let's give credit where credit is due. The sales tax on food didn't come over on the SS George Allen. It was imposed by a Democratic legislature a goodly number of years ago. In all the time they had since controlled that law making body, they have not found it within their capacity to repeal the tax. But now that Jim Gilmore, a Republican governor, has made it clear he's willing to spend money - on tax cuts - tax-and-waste Democrats scream grand theft.

Who better to stand before the current legislature of Virginia and propose an honest repeal of the food tax than Jim Gilmore, the son of a grocery store butcher?

Don W. Lovett

Smithfield

FEMINISTS AND FLINT

That you would consider Newsday columnist Marie Cocco's trite rehashing of the feminist abortion theme Jan. 18 ("Raising the Barr of hypocrisy) as news is amazing. Are you really so worried that mothers might be forced to love their own flesh and blood?

Let's suppose that Cocco sincerely believes that public restriction of any sin can only be acceptable if the general public is sinless in this one area.

Hmm? Sounds a little like the argument that Clinton defenders are waging about lying under oath in a grand jury? Think through this philosophy and ask yourselves where, if adopted by civilized communities bonded by law, the resultant civilization would end.